5 of the biggest changes coming to Instagram, Facebook

Mick Tobin, 23, vividly remembers beating himself up as a teen for losing hours of time to social media in one sitting.

He blamed himself for scrolling endlessly.

He compared himself to others, felt anxious, and could sense his attention span growing shorter.

He blamed himself some more for not knowing how to use social media wisely.

Looking back, Tobin now understands the outsize influence social media companies had in shaping his habits and behavior with what he describes as addictive design features.

SEE ALSO: Meta will pay a whopping $17 billion to states in social media addiction trial "It's a trillion-dollar company on one side of the screen and a 15-year-old on the other side of the screen," Tobin said.

"It's not a fair fight." That's why Tobin, co-founder and advocacy director at Young People's Alliance, welcomes Meta's new $17 billion settlement with U.S. attorneys general.

As part of the agreement, Meta is required to make several significant design changes that should meaningfully affect how teens use Instagram and Facebook.

Notably, Meta will limit daily time spent on Instagram and Facebook to two hours; block access to both platforms overnight and during school hours; give teens the option to create a default non-algorithmic feed; and allow teens to turn off autoplay.

Tobin, who wishes that Meta had admitted guilt in the settlement, believes his teenage years would've looked much different if these measures had been in place several years ago: "I probably would have had much more control over my life." How will Instagram and Facebook change? The settlement ends a major lawsuit against Meta filed by dozens of U.S. attorneys general.

Meta confirmed to Mashable that the new teen protections will roll out over the next six months.

Meta issued a "call to action" to YouTube and TikTok to adopt what the company describes as a new "industry standard." "These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place," Meta said in the statement.

Meta, which introduced Teen Accounts in 2024 , already has certain safety measures to address some safety and well-being concerns but will expand on those.

Here's what to expect: Time Limit : While Teen Account users on Facebook and Instagram already receive a reminder to leave the app after 60 minutes, Meta will introduce a two-hour cumulative limit across Facebook and Instagram.